The European average temperature in the last five years was around 2.2 °C above the pre-industrial era (1850-1900). Thermometers in Europe are rising twice the world average; at a faster rate than on any other continent.
More heat, less snow and widespread droughts are the elements that are defining the climate that imposes warming in Europe.
Last year was the second warmest year on record in the Old Continent; the thermometers stood in 2022 at 0.9°C above the average (in relation to the reference period 1991-2020). Temperatures in Europe are rising twice the world average; at a faster rate than on any other continent.
And last summer was the hottest ever recorded in Europe, with temperatures 1.4°C above average compared to the past 30 years. These are data from the Report on the State of the Climate in Europe 2022 prepared by the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“The report highlights the alarming changes in our climate, including the hottest summer ever recorded in Europe, marked by unprecedented marine heat waves in the Mediterranean Sea and record temperatures in Greenland,” said Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Exchange Service. Copernicus Climate (C3S). But together with the records of high temperatures, the widespread drought was one of the most significant events that marked the climate in Europe, according to Buontempo explained to this newspaper.
The drought not only affected Spain, Italy or Greece, but also countries like Germany, Poland or parts of France, where water had to be transported to supply “in places where there is normally no shortage of water”.
In winter 2021-2022, much of Europe experienced fewer snow days than average, with many areas experiencing up to 30 fewer days of snow. Rainfall in May, for example, was the lowest rainfall since there are records for that month.
All this caused a record loss of ice from the glaciers of the Alps estimated at more than 5 km3 of ice.
The flow of European rivers was the second lowest on record, which is the sixth consecutive year with flows below average (something that occurred in rivers in France, Germany or Poland).
“The flow of a river is an integrating indicator of what happens in time and spaceâ€, emphasizes Buontempo.
“We know that evaporation will increase throughout the continent, with which the tendency to drought will intensify,” he adds.
Why is Europe warming more than the world average? The director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service points out several factors: the reduction of snow in the Alps, the decrease in ice in polar areas, the high latitude of Europe or the incidence of Greenland. Less ice means less ability to reflect solar radiation at sea and on land and, therefore, more ability to retain heat. However, two or three decades ago it did not warm up anymore, so he does not rule out that a temporary “fluctuation” may have an impact.
“The sea level will rise, the glaciers will melt. All this data must be valued to make decisions and manage risksâ€, explains Carlo Buontempo
Meanwhile, the arctic region also continued to experience drastic changes in its climate. Temperatures in this area continue to rise much faster than in most of the rest of the planet. 2022 was the sixth warmest year on record for the Arctic as a whole, and the fourth warmest year for Arctic land areas. One of the hardest-hit Arctic regions in 2022 was Svalbard, which experienced the hottest summer on record, with temperatures in some areas exceeding 2.5°C above average.
In 2022, Greenland also experienced extreme weather conditions, including exceptional heat and rain in September, a time of year when snow is more common. Average temperatures for the month were up to 8°C above average (the highest on record), and the island was affected by three different heat waves. This combination caused record melting, affecting at least 23% of the ice sheet at the height of the first heat wave.
The report also examined some aspects of the renewable energy generation potential in Europe.
In 2022, Europe received the highest amount of surface solar radiation in the last 40 years. As a result, solar PV generation potential was above average across most of the continent. It should be noted that the high solar radiation on the surface in 2022 is consistent with a marked positive trend observed during the same 40-year period.
Meanwhile, the average annual wind speed on land across Europe in 2022 was roughly equal to its 30-year average. It was below average in most of western, central and north-eastern Europe, but above average in the east and south-east of the continent. This made the potential electricity generation from onshore wind power below average in most of Europe, especially in the south central regions.
Both the C3S are implemented through the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission and with funding from the European Union.
